Frequently Moving Homes Is Not Advantageous, Essay Example

Many assume a childhood filled with frequent moves from place to place would be a wonderful foundation for a child. The exposure to many cultures would inevitably make a child, or any person, worldlier. The social knowledge that can be gained by frequent moves can be invaluable in social situations throughout life. Overall, however, frequent moves are not by any means a good social foundation due to a lack of consistency, a the lack of a steady social environment, as well as cultural differences that can work to alienate a person from their surroundings.

It is at this point considered a fact that a certain amount of consistency in a person’s life can be invaluable to their development and mental health. The lack of even a consistent sleep schedule has proven to be detrimental to the psyche, causing undue stress, and even doing permanent damage. Constant relocation, especially for a child, gives no concrete sense of normality. Key developmental years can be damaged; things such as how proverbially “safe” a child felt are now being linked to mood and personality disorders later in life. A person may never find their “place” with constant moves, and the damage may not be seen for years.

This directly correlates with the next problem with constant relocations; the lack of a steady social environment. Friends are made at every stage of life, and socially interacting with two or three, or more, confidants is essential in the mental health of anyone, especially children. It is very hard to keep any kind of long-term friend with moves every couple years, and this causes serious problems in social development. The ability to remain socially comfortable becomes very hard, especially when social norms and niceties are taken into consideration. With no knowledge as to how to approach social situations, it is likely the people will struggle to proverbially “define themselves”, unable to identify with any social niche. This can directly lead to antisocial behavior as a method of compensation, such as acting out, drug use, or violence.

Cultural differences between places can also prove incredibly problematic. In addition to being completely unfamiliar with local customs, there are also things such as accents, dialect, and local slang to take into consideration. Any one of these things can have negative social consequences, and detrimental to a positive social environment as a whole. As a child, an inability to conform to culture can also have a negative effect on learning. If a child is not comfortable in their learning environment, they simply will not retain information nearly as effectively.

Due to a lack of a consistent and concrete home life, the extreme difficulty to cultivate normal social relationships, and engage in normal interactions, as well as the difference in cultural differences between even places within the United States frequent moves, especially at large distances, are not advisable. While they are especially not advantageous to the development of a child, frequent moves can also have negative impacts on adults due to their nature; undue stress and inability to settle can harm even the strongest of psyches’. Overall, it is socially and culturally advantageous to settle down, and relocate as little as possible.